Governors Camp

One of the oldest camps in the Mara, located on a thickly forested bend of the Mara River, Governors Camp is also one of the biggest. This is really the main location of a giant camp split into three neighbouring sites, consisting of this the main Governors camp, Little Governors and Governors Il Moran camps, all clustered around the river in the northwest corner of the Maasai Mara National Reserve. The name refers to the site supposedly being favoured by the colonial governors of Kenya.

Governors’ Camp was the first of the Governors’ group, built in 1972 on the site of an old campsite on the riverbank, and now much extended so that the whole camp covers more than 4 acres.

The camp is unfenced in the midst of the original forest. This is one of the busiest camps in the Mara but despite this, Governors’ Camp has a pleasant, laid-back feel to it and is probably best suited to travelers who are happy being left to themselves, participating in hotel-style meal times and joining up with others for the shared game drives.

The key asset here is not the camp itself: it’s the location. Of the 37 tents, 28 face the river, with its grunting hippos, birdlife and even the occasional wildebeest river crossing during the August to October migration. Nine tents face the plain – six of them family-sized units – where ambling elephants and the odd roaming lion pride can be spotted from the front of the entry way.

Around camp, there are wildlife that like to visit. Popular visitors are the large colony of dwarf mongooses and some hungry elephants.

Governors’ is a permanent camp, both in the sense that it was built to last, and in the sense that its original designs made no attempt to reduce its environmental footprint. It still doesn’t reflect many modern environmental standards, though it has recently started a recycling project in Ongata Rongai, near Nairobi, employing people to recycle Governors’ waste cardboard and paper into fuel briquettes. The camp buys these back from the project to fuel their new hot water system.

It can’t be beat for location as the ‘safari’ is right in front of your doorstep!

*For a full list of available activities, the best time of the year to visit, and any other relevant enquiries, please contact a Sister Hippo Travel Consultant!